Is gambling a problem? You bet, say NRL stars

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Nearly half of NRL players polled in an annual survey admitted
knowing a player with a gambling addiction.

Gambling replaces sex, alcohol and drugs as the code's biggest
off-field problem, based on confidential responses from 100 elite
players in the annual Rugby League Week survey, which has
been conducted since 1986.

Just days before the poll was released, Sharks halfback Michael
Sullivan confessed a gambling addiction had cost him $150,000 and
forced him to look for a club in England, where the favourable
exchange rate would allow him to settle his Australian debts.

The players, split among the NRL's 15 clubs, were polled on a
number of issues and 46 per cent said they knew of a player with a
gambling problem. Several expressed grave concerns about the toll
gambling could be taking.

"Gambling is definitely a massive problem for a lot of us," one
representative player told to the magazine. "You take it up because
it is a great way of stimulating that adrenaline rush you get from
winning games. That's why a lot of players get stuck into the
pokies when they're out injured."

The lethal cocktail of high salaries, abundant free time and a
plethora of wagering opportunities has also contributed to some
players wasting their career savings through gambling.

A Broncos player who wished to remain anonymous is quoted as
saying: "There's a lot of blokes getting a lot of money who haven't
had jobs before, so they don't know the value of money. There's a
lot of gambling going on and it's happening at every club. It comes
down to the individual, it's not the game's responsibility."

The magazine reports on two high-profile cases, including a
current State of Origin player who has lost two houses to gambling.
Another player, who came to the league during the inflated salaries
of the Super League era and has enjoyed high payments since, is
poised to retire with few assets, owing to gambling.

NRL chief executive David Gallop, while not shirking the
league's responsibility to address the problem, questioned the
methodology of the survey.

"Forty-six per cent of players are not suggesting they have a
gambling problem," he said. "They could all be talking about one
player and, based on the Cronulla player's admission, if the survey
was done today, you'd expect it to be 100 per cent. Still, if they
are suggesting it is a problem, it certainly is a social problem
from which we are not immune."

Gallop said the NRL had already installed mechanisms to help
players with an addiction.

"We've got specific courses through our education and welfare
committee that we've run over the last few years that deal with the
issue," he said. "Clearly, there are going to be opportunities for
it to become a problem and player managers need to be on the look
out to ensure players' incomes are properly managed."

The Rugby League Week survey quotes a counsellor from the
Wesley Mission identifying gambling as a substitute for an
adrenaline rush.

The gambling counsellor, Reverend Chester Carter, described the
increase in gambling among NRL players as "dramatic" and linked it
with long-term problems he had identified in the armed
services.

Describing the military as "obviously another high-risk life
style", Carter said: "These blokes [NRL players and armed
servicemen] have a real need for adrenaline and they find it
through gambling."

Carter, who has counselled big-name NRL players and officials,
warns the problem threatens to spiral out of control following a
significant increase in addiction the past three years.

"There's no doubt a gambling culture exists in league," he said.
"I know of several players who are secretly leading a double life.
Blokes have lost cars, houses, relationships, contemplated suicide
it can be fatal."

The survey also found one-third of NRL players polled knew a
player with an alcohol problem.

The annual question on the NRL's most over-rated player produced
an interesting response, considering he is poised to become the
highest-paid.

Thirty-one players said the Bulldogs' Braith Anasta, who has
been linked with a $500,000-per-year offer from South Sydney, was
the most over-rated player, ahead of Brisbane's Justin Hodges, who
polled 5 per cent.